Review: Spellbook of the Lost and Found

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you, Penguin First to Read, for an advanced e-book copy of this story! All opinions are still my own and are not influenced in any way.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle is an enchanting story about items that get lost and found. Three different friend groups all notice items getting lost and find a Spellbook, which has a spell to return the items they lost. These girls and boys find out that magic isn't what it seems, and become connected to each other in mysterious ways.

The characters were all individual in their own ways, but it turns out that I kept getting them all confused until about halfway through the book. The story itself seemed to drag on. It WAS an interesting story, I promise! I just felt like I was reading the same stuff over and over again each time I picked it up and read a little more. The writing was definitely different and full of adjectives and the word "lost." I can't even tell you how many times that word appears. I tried counting, but got too tired after the first 50 pages.

The pace is slow but rewarding. All the events slowly unfold and new layers of depth and mystery are revealed with each chapter. Everything's all connected in a way that has you screaming and kicking yourself for not figuring out what's going on, even though it's pretty hard to guess what's going on.

I would recommend this to anyone who has the patience for a slow, mystical mystery.

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Review: One of Us Is Lying

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*no spoilers bc im not a monster*

One of Us Is Lying is about five students that find themselves in detention together. One dies, and it's uncovered that the other four all have secrets that the dead student was about to release to the public. This story is about trying to figure out who is the killer and who is lying.

This is such a fantastic story! You get to really know the characters and backstories, which make them relatable and lovable. I found myself going "they're the one!!" every time the chapters changed (I may not be the best at solving mysteries). Each one has a pretty good motive to kill Simon, but they all plead innocent pretty well. It'll really keep you on your toes figuring out who did it and how.

This isn't just about who did it, though. This story is also about how a murder accusation affects the lives of these high school students. Even more secrets come out, new friends and enemies are made, and it's all over just a bad time that has you going "How could this possibly get worse?" in each new chapter.

I listened to the audiobook, and the full cast was amazing. They all played their roles really well. It really helped me remember who was who. I'd definitely recommend listening to the audiobook, but also maybe buying the hardcover too because that book jacket is just too cool. (The pages on the faces feel different than the rest of the book. It's pretty cool.)

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Review: The Butterfly Garden

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

HOLY CRAP!?!?!?!?

This is the kind of book I've been looking for--equal parts horrifying, disturbing, and intriguing. The Butterfly Garden is about girls who have been kidnapped by a man called the Gardner, who collects these girls and tattoos butterfly wings on them. They then live until 21, where they are killed and preserved for their eternal beauty.

When you read this, you're disgusted but can't stop yourself from wondering what happens next. It'll also have you screaming because when you think it can't POSSIBLY get any more messed up, it GETS MORE MESSED UP!!!!

The writing was absolutely beautiful. The style of the story, told as an interrogation, was actually really helpful and interesting. You know they make it out because Maya's being interrogated, but it keeps you on your toes because you really want to know HOW they got out of this madness.

This could be very triggering, as there are mentions of rape and drugs and abuse, but if that doesn't keep you away, I'd definitely recommend this for anyone looking for something thrilling and creepy.

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Review: I Believe in a Thing Called Love

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you're looking for your next cute summer contemporary read, look no further.

I Bellieve in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is a story about Desi Lee, a Korean girl who is best in her class and an overachiever in everything but boys. When a new boy, Luca, comes to school, she uses the guide of K-dramas to help her win him.

Even if you don't watch K-dramas (I've only seen one), you'll love this book, but it's probably even more fun if you've seen them. This story even has a guide to K-dramas on the back, if you want to marathon those before reading this.

This is one of the cutest books I've read in a long time, oh my gosh. Desi is such a sweetheart and adorable, and her relationship with her father is adorable, and her relationship with Luca is adorable. Everything about this book screams cute.

Plot-wise, this is sort of a predictable book. You can tell what's going to happen, but it doesn't stop you from reading on anyway!

I love this book and this is probably one of my favorites of this year so far (and that's a big accomplishment considering I've read like 60+ so far).

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK AND LOVE IT!!!

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Review: Frostblood

Frostblood by Elly Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Everyone knows that in video games, fire ALWAYS beats ice. So what's this crap about ice being stronger than fire in this world?????

I liked this but I had a few problems that were probably more my fault than this book's fault.

1) The male characters all seemed to have the same personality to me, and I kept getting them all confused because they all seemed the same.

2) There seemed to be random romantic scenes that always took me by surprise and didn't seem to further the book. Also they didn't mean much to me because all the character seemed the same to me so I'm not entirely sure who was the love interest (like there was Arcus but I think there were a couple more?? Maybe????)

3) I didn't remember a lot of scenes (I listened to this audiobook over a pretty long time), so when I started it up again it was difficult to remember what happened and who the characters were and where Ruby was and what she was doing. :(

Despite my horrible memory, I did enjoy this book and would definitely read the next one! Everyone complains about how Generic this is, and it sorta is!! Reminds me of many books (Throne of Glass, Snow Like Ashes, Red Queen, etc.) but I like those books!! Why wouldn't I like this? I would definitely read it in ebook or physical format though, because fantasy is difficult to keep up in audio form for me.

3 stars just because it didn't capture me as much as other 4-5 star books, but it wasn't bad.

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